Fluid pump dispensers are generally provided with a nozzle structure including a check valve for blocking communication between the pump chamber and a nozzle aperture. A nozzle structure of this type is illustrated, e.g. in the Vanier U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,739, dated Aug. 22, 1972. It is desirable that the nozzle structure be adjustable to provide widely varying discharge patterns and for disabling the outlet check valve. A seal must also be provided to prevent fluid leakage at the sliding interface of the nozzle structure adjustment means. It is, of course, also desirable that the number of separately molded parts of the fluid dispenser be minimized. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel fluid dispenser having an adjustable nozzle for varying the discharge pattern of the dispenser, comprising only two separately molded parts, attached to the dispenser housing.
Typically, fluid is discharged from a spray dispenser by reducing the volume of a pump chamber, thereby opening a pressure responsive outlet check valve. In conventional spray dispensers the volume of the pump chamber may be varied by operating a piston, as illustrated in the Hellenkamp U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,157, or the volume of the pump chamber may be varied by flexing a wall of a flexible tubular member, having an outlet valve integral therewith, as illustrated in the Micallef U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,290. Both dispensers are configured in the approximate shape of a pistol, the nozzle being located at the end of a forwardly protruding portion of the housing and the pump chamber being located within the portion of the housing grasped by the hand. While the Micallef dispenser has several inherent advantages, the dispenser has a disadvantage in that the protruding nozzle cap is provided separate and displaced from the outlet valve of the dispenser, which is formed by interengaging surfaces of the flexible tubular member, thus restricting the accessibility of the outlet valve for adjustment to modify the discharge pattern of the dispenser.
Accordingly, it is a further object of the present invention to provide a spray dispenser having a pump chamber defined by a flexible tubular member, and a nozzle structure displaced from the pump chamber, having an outlet check valve which cooperates with an adjustable nozzle cap to vary the discharge pattern of the dispenser.
These and many other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the claims and from the following description when read in conjunction with the appended drawings.